We were all, at one and the same time, people she knew and loved but also objects of study,

but I did not let this vision penetrate my fantasy.

one among many, which might be easily corrected if only people would bring to the problem the focus she brought to everything.

formality or fear fell away,

I could hold my alcohol, I’d been perfecting that very British skill since the age of thirteen.

My childhood took place in the widening gap.

I lined up next to each other, every time, it was almost unconscious, two iron filings drawn to a magnet.

and my feet, in sympathy with the music, tapped

In Tracey’s home, disappointment in the man was ancient history: they had never really had any hope in him, for he had almost never been at home.